At Home in LKBC

We returned to our Singapore church, Leng Kwang (Light of the Spirit) Baptist Church, for their morning service today. We worshipped here for four years and were very involved in the life of the church. It was lovely to be back and everyone was so pleased to see us....we chatted for ages after the service to a lot of people. Our good friend Pastor Jimmy was on sabbatical. The guest speaker took as his text John 20: 1-29, and talked about how often in the midst of life God is wanting to connect with us but we can be so tied up in our own concerns that we miss him.

Our diary for the week soon filled up! Mainly with people from the cell group we led and we had a lovely walk with friends in the new Botanic Gardens for children and then lunch in a new 'Eco-mall' with the Pastor Jimmy (who had appeared by this point) and his family and various other church friends. We did not quite work out why it was Eco though - there was still a larger car park and plenty of air conditioning - but the food was good and the conversation flowed.

In the evening we met up with with former Shell colleagues Manojit and Nadeem, with Nadeem's wife Sameen, and a new addition in little Faaiz. Thai food this time and overlooking the new hotel and casino construction project. Faaiz is absolutely gorgeous and 4 months old and Jean was honoured with a cuddle whilst we caught up on events old and new.

So this evening we are very thankful for all these amazing folk who have taken us into their hearts and for the privilege we had to live here for a while.

(Photos: LKBC; Jimmy and Jenny Boj and family; Manojit, Nadeem, Saneem and Faaiz)

Singapore Arrival

It was a short night from Bangalore with less than four hours in the air and a 6am arrival so by the time that we got to the hotel they were not quite ready for us - but breakfast was on offer and we went for a walk along Clarke Quay and Boat Quay while we waited. The Singapore skyline continues to change and an enormous new casino and three towered tourist hotel is being built in Marina Bay. In addition the Singapore river has been dammed and no longer flows into the sea so what used to be the main external jetty is now part of a large reservoir to enhance Singapore's water supply - much currently comes across the Causeway from Malaysia and they still yearn to be self sufficient. Singapore is also becoming much 'greener' and a local and ethical food campaign dominated the local paper today.

The good news when we got back to the hotel was that free laundry was on offer and the first 17 items have just returned beautifully folded - so the rest of the contents of the suitcases will go over the balance of the week!

Much of the next week's meeting people will be around meals and today we met Joan and Pauline for lunch. Joan was part of our Singapore church and is good friends with Pauline - they have been involved in mission activities to Japan and Pauline is still involved in Japanese interpretation and translation whilst Joan is now a secondary school counsellor - so it was a Japanese lunch....

In the evening we met up with Mel and Dan from A Rocha in Chinatown - they are skilled filmmakers and travelled internationally with A Rocha for three years - and are now settling back into Singapore. Mel still working for A Rocha but Dan largely free lancing. We arranged to meet them at Chinatown MRT station (underground) but failed to note that it has six exits up to 400 metres apart...and it was the one of the busiest days on the Chinese calendar it is only two weeks to Chinese new year - the streets were absolutely packed - Oxford St has nothing on Chinatown. It was only by God's grace that we both emerged from the same exit at the same time half an hour later! Chicken rice, Beef Kway Teow, and Oyster Omelette in the local food court helped the conversation though.

As Jean and I returned to the hotel we realised that the Thaipusam festival was still happening at the local Indian temple. Men who wish to either earn merit from or give thanks to the god Durgha march though the city for several miles in a long procession with a huge metal frame on their head topped with peacock feathers and often fixed to them by metal pins through their flesh. Another full day ended. (Photos - skyline, Joan and Pauline, Chinatown, Mel and Dan, and Thaipusam participant)

Bangalore City

Our last day in Bangalore and a touristy one. We took a hotel car and driver and were off to Labagh Botanical gardens, which were really beautiful and varied, with lovely trees, monkeys, a large lake, and some beautiful birds. We just wandered around for about an hour and still didn’t cover everything, but enough to give us a flavour.

Next the Bull Temple, where we were astonished to see as a centre piece of the Hindu temple a huge bull carved out of the black rock. We went in and round the aforementioned bull, carefully avoiding receiving any blessing from the priests or giving a donation for the temple…We nearly had some trouble when we tried to retrieve our shoes as we had no small change to tip their “carers”. The trees around the temple were laden with fruit bats.

Finally on the tourist trail Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace which was fantastic, though smaller than it had been. It was well built and preserved. This man was an amazing ruler but no friend of the British and had fought fiercely against colonisers. It was his father Haider Ali who set up the Labagh gardens in 1750..

We decided to call in on St Andrew’s Church on the way to lunch, hoping we might find Prem there….and indeed he was so he took a bit of time to show us round in between appointments and I was able to play their famous pipe organ. It was a special moment for me as a Scot to be playing the Old Hundredth (All people that on earth do dwell) in St Andrew’s church (Presbyterian originally) in Bangalore. Prem was quite moved, singing along and regretted that I hadn’t been there for a Sunday as they don’t have many people who can play the organ well.

With a four hour overnight flight to Singapore we caught some sleep after lunch. Vijay and Sunita had invited us for a cup of tea to say farewell – needless to say there was a lot more than that – and a present for us as well. They have been so hospitable and it was good to say farewell properly before heading off to the airport.

Bannerghatta National Park

We were off to the national park today where most of the elephant work is done, with Prem (the local AR chair) and Ghopal so we ordered a packed lunch for four - when we collected it there was enough for a dozen with biryani and samosas and all sorts - but more of that anon.

The journey there was spent in conversation with Prem who is a lovely man. He is officially on holiday for the month ... but that seems to mean that he just does half a day and only preaches on three out of the four Sundays....and only answers his mobile to people he knows! He leads a church of 700 families without any other paid leadership so it is a heavy task but he has a real passion for his work and for caring for creation so it was good to spend time with him.

The park itself is 30 kms long and only about 3 kms wide on average so it is difficult to manage - and difficult for the elepants to work out where they should be too! We met up with Nishan who is following the herds and working out their movements as a part of a Masters study supervised by Vijay. Apparently there are quite a few illegal stills on the edge of the park and the elephants have taken to raiding them and drinking the contents - with not unexpected consequences as alcohol has a similar impact on elephants as on humans. So by lunchtime we had not seen any elephants but we had talked lots about them and with two local guides we were now seven - so there was plenty of lunch for all - sandwiches for Jean and I for tea - and chicken for Nishan and his guide as they camped in the forest with the elephants...

We did see some bears though - the park is used as a half way house for mistreated animals - lions, tigers and lots of bears - the latter were wandering round a huge enclosure and watching us with interest, much better than dancing on the end of a rope which was what they had been doing before. (Photos - the park, a sloth bear, and Prem)

Chili and elephants

Today, hurrah, we had a lie in and time for a proper breakfast..Steve tried some Indian breakfast delicacies..then we were picked up by Vijay and Gopal in the A Rocha jeep, so we were five as Prem also joined us for the day. We headed off out of town collecting foodstuffs on the way: bananas, water melon, bitter gourd and some elevenses biscuits which turned out to be savoury and spicy. Fascinating sights all the way until finally we turned off the road and arrived at A Rocha India Field Centre. The lady who keeps the place was very emotional when she saw Vijay, as he doesn't get there very often. We dropped off all the food we had take so she could make lunch for us later...unfortunately Vijay had literally dropped the eggs en route which turned out NOT to have been hard-boiled - so scrambled for lunch...

From there Gopal drove us to the farm of good friends of A Rocha India, a second-generation Christian family, who support the work they do enthusiastically. They have allowed A Rocha to try out their Chili Rope which they are using to discourage elephants from the nearby Bannerghatta National Park entering and destroying their crops. Francis, the farmer, met us and showed us his fields and the rope as well as bits of land where elephants had got in. He is a delightful man and took us to his house where his wife served us with sweet coconut milk from the shell followed by the flesh, then freshly boiled and delicious sweet corn cobs ...and on top of all that some papaya.....wonderful...then they insisted on giving the others corn cobs and eggs to take home..

As our courtesy call with the Park Directors was postponed till tomorrow we went back and chilled at the centre, managed to eat the wonderful lunch prepared for us and relaxed....and then just as we were thinking to go back to town, the appointment was reinstated. It was good to meet the Director and his assistant, both of whom are very supportive of Vijay and the work they do. Apparently they pay compensation if the elephants damage the crops so whilst the chili rope does the business some prefer elephant visitations and the compensation! There is a plan for tomorrow for us to go and visit the park so that should be great....

Republic Day

Today was Indian National Day - and the 14th wedding anniversary of our hosts for the visit, Vijay and Sunita Anand (from A Rocha India). Visits to Asian friends are always a delight - the agenda for the day develops as it goes and you go with the flow.

So today started with a visit with Vijay and Prem Mitra (the chairman of AR India and minister of a local church) to a school on the edge of the slums sponsored by Prem's church and where Vijay and his team help with environmental education. Vijay had been asked to raise the national flag whilst they sang the national anthem. Hundreds of children greeted us in blue and white uniforms and we chatted with some and Jean taught them 'I love the sun....'. The unfurling of the flag caused some excitement as the wrong rope was pulled and tightened instead but one of the students climbed onto the roof to do the necessary and when the flag opened rose petals floated down onto the students.

We were back to Vijay's and Sunita's for lunch and to wish them well for their anniversary. The past couple of years have been challenging for them. They lived on Sunita's income for a while and with Vijay's dad's help as Vijay worked without salary - but the A Rocha UK appeal last year raised enough to pay for Vijay's salary for 18 months or so - and the problems with currency transfer have been circumvented by AR visitors taking money with them. So Jean and I were relieved to hand over the last £7000 or so from the appeal to the local moneychangers who came to the house with that amount in rupees in a black plastic bag....and Vijay and Sunita were very happy. Sunita is taking a two year career break until both children are fully in school.

Jean played games and read to the children who were calling her granny by the time we left and we talked about the growth of the church in India over lunch - and the threats and the joys which came from that - up to 4-5% of the population are now Christian.

Leaving Oman - Monday

The time in Oman flew by - we thought perhaps that four days would not be enough - but it gave us a good feel for how the country had progressed. As we reflected the capital area had changed out of all recognition - the road we had ambled down to the local supermarket on was now a three lane road with nose to tail traffic. The local people we chatted with were uniformly positive about the changes - the wealth was clearly being spread and the head-man up on Jebel Akhdar who now had a surfaced road to his door rather than 50 kms of dirt track could not have been more positively effusive about the Sultan. So good memories and a good return.

Bangalore in contrast was a new place for us. The airport was as modern as they come and rather than the usual scrum of hundreds of people fighting to carry our bags there was just a man from the hotel with a taxi so it was all very easy. An evening in the hotel gave us chance to catch up a little - laundry surrounds the bathroom which will be a surprise for the guy who cleans the room tomorrow!

Muscat

We had a slower start today and then set off back to Muscat on the posh new dual carriageway most of the way. We passed Izki and remembered the fantastic Eid celebration we spent with Abdulaziz (who worked for Steve) and his family. Lovely cool shady palm plantation, generous hospitality, meeting all the family and surveying his land, meeting his donkey....and finally joining the rest of the community for singing and dancing...a great day...and the first time we had seen Omanis in all their brightly-coloured finery celebrating their great days.

We took a detour to visit Fanja, which was always on our way to the interior and several times we did a "wadi bash" along that wadi, usually very wet and we often got stuck. There was water in the wadi today and the hills were green. They had had lot of rain...we stopped and had a wander meeting the locals and admiring the pottery and other craft items. Not many tourists stopping there...we were a bit of a novelty...as in the old days. We did however see quite a few tourist groups in 4WDs and in coaches and even later saw a cruise ship in the harbour at Muttrah! Tourism has become big.

The capital area has totally changed since we lived there - huge amounts of construction and many new roads - we got lost more than once. So it was good to head off down memory lane....to the PDO camp, where little had changed...the school where Kathryn and David went, to have a look at the house we lived in...no 1 Heima Road..and the wadi below where the children played...afterwards we walked along the Qurum beach. Steve looked at birds and I found some lovely shells.

Later in Muttrah we stopped on the Corniche and visited the souk, did a bit (only a bit!) of shopping , and then as it got dark we wandered round Muscat and admired the extensions to Sultan Qaboos' palace..with lots of other new construction as well - finance ministry, new museum....we were able to get quite close...and finally on again to the luxury Al Bustan Palace hotel...where, as we used to do, we went in and had a wander round...

Nizwa and beyond - Saturday

An early start and up at first light to drive up to the upper level of the Saiq plateau. The sun was just rising and the colours were superb as we climbed up above 2500 metres. All of a sudden junipers became the dominant vegetation – Peter Woods would have been delighted. We drove right to the end of the plateau and stopped in a village on the edge of the escarpment looking down several thousand feet and the local headman came running up and invited us to sit down outside his house and join him for dates and coffee. We summoned up as much Arabic as we could muster and sat down with him for the traditional Omani hospitality – the only downside was when he quietly asked for a baksheesh at the end which would never have happened before.

The town of Nizwa and its hotel had always been a favourite haunt of the family and we moved on there and explored the wadis on the edge of the jebel. There had been a huge amount of development but the ruined village of Tanuf and its associated wadi were largely untouched and we wandered up the valley as the cliff sides towered above us. The falaj carrying water down from the hillside was only a third full and we remembered when we had been there when the whole wadi was full of water and the falaj was overflowing into the wadi below – and the photo on our wall at home which had been given to us as we left Oman over twenty years earlier. And there were goats everywhere....

Going back to places is often difficult but for us the last two days have been full of wonderful memories, much to give thanks for, and whilst Oman has changed significantly, for the local people the changes would seem to have been largely positive.

Al Jabal al Akhdar - Friday

Up at seven after not much sleep…too excited and too many lovely memories flying around in my head. Off to the Church of the Good Shepherd (Protestant Church of Oman) for the 9 am service. We got there early and met Jack, one of the pastors and benefited from the worship band practice! This building was just a proposal and a bit of land when we left Oman, but they now have 2 main halls one of them named in honour of Dr Don and Eloise Bosch, whom we know, a godly couple who for many years under the previous Sultan ran the only school and hospital in the country..

Sermon on sowing….1 Corinthians 3:1-9….how important it is to sow the seed of the word…I had often thought of that as evangelism but Jack was homing in on teaching children, young people and new Christians the faith (especially important where you can’t proselytise). I was curiously encouraged…as we have spent many years just doing that but in many different places and often not seeing the fruit…

We then headed off inland to al Jabal al Akhdar, Arabic for The Green Mountain, where we were heading to the top (couldn’t do it before as a military area…) to stay overnight. we went , passing through our beloved fabulous mountains, we suddenly started when we realised they were covered with a green carpet. This is a very rare thing and means that there must have been rain recently. As soon as the rain falls the seeds sprout very fast as they have to. We were there for 3 years and only saw this once. Later the mountains became marvellous shades of brown as ever. Was this a blessing for us and a sign that it is God who brings fruit and we don’t need to worry?

We loved the old haunts but were delighted with the road up into the mountain…fantastic scenery, rough, craggy, majestic. Got to the hotel but couldn’t check in as the appropriate person was having his (or her) lunch so we decided to get in on the act and had lunch. The next bit is in honour of my mum who often used to say, “It could only happen to you!”…one of the Indian waiters, Ibrahim, came up and asked Steve if he had been to Oman before. He was one of the company catering team and he remembered Steve from 25 years ago. He was very excited! He said he had been a bit wary of asking as Steve had become “very fat” and so he wasn’t absolutely sure it was him! How delightful that he remembered him but also wanted to connect with him after all this time...He was asking after our children too, very culturally appropriate here…

After lunch we enjoyed pottering on the plateau walking down wadis, through villages with terraced agriculture watered by the falaj system…many happy reminiscences of similar times with the family but in different places. Great day, happy to be back, enjoying getting back into speaking Arabic with these lovely hospitable people.

Twenty five years on

Well - we have arrived safely in Muscat. The skies were clear as we came down the Gulf and Jean gave a running commentary as we passed over the various Gulf states which have memories for us as well, whether Dhahran in Saudi where I spent four hours in custody when I arrived at the airport because the Saudi oil company I was meeting had not lodged a visa - or Bahrein were Jean attended a weekend course with the Royal College of church music.

We arrived early and found the airport packed with people waiting to greet returning friends and the dual carriageway as we drove down to the hotel was packed - Thursday evening is the weekend here we remembered as we had a McDonalds at midnight.

We remembered when we first arrived nearly 25 years ago with huge excitement - the capital area was much quieter and much has changed but it is great to be back - the Omanis are as friendly as ever and we are gradually remembering some of our Arabic....

Well, I've packed and the case closes and the scales are happy...amazing.Mind you I had a lot of whittling to do with the enormous mountain of stuff I had built on the bed before I could even consider opening the case.

One of our travelling companions will be Gerard Hughes in the form of his book "Seven weeks for the Soul", containing readings, reflections and prayers for each day. We've started it already and here's a thought from him . He starts with the idea that our luggage is for our journey but "we conduct our lives as though the journey were for the sake of the luggage:I have therefore I am"....plenty of food for thought... (Jean)

Getting packed

Everything in piles now. A quick check has revealed that the various airlines we are travelling with all have different hand baggage policies - so pack for the first one and then bluff the rest will be the tactic. Jean's pile as usual is twice as high as her case - so that will be interesting....